Questlove Says He Hid The Roots From His Dad, Recalls Diddy Becoming A Rapper

Questlove of The Roots recently sat down with the Red Bull Music Academy for a thorough discussion of his life and music, and as you'd expect, he had some interesting things to say.

The Philadelphia musician stated that his father, Lee Andrews, who sang in a handful of doo-wop and soul groups, didn't know he was in The Roots until his second album, Do You Want More?!!!??!.

"My dad wanted me to be a session drummer," Quest remembers. "I managed to keep The Roots a secret from my father to the beginning of my second album. My father did not know about Organix." Explaining that his dad saw hip-hop as a waste of time, he continued, "I used to blast Public Enemy's [It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back], and he'd be like, "That's not art, that's not music."

Later on, Quest described how the music industry initially felt when Diddy (aka Puff Daddy) announced he was going to become a rapper. Making a parallel to the recent unexpected news that Paris Hilton signed to Cash Money, Quest said his fellow artists were bewildered by the move. "'Wait a minute, a CEO is rapping? Oh my god, no. That can't happen'."

At nearly two hours, this interview with Questlove is a bit lengthy, but well worth the full watch.